Your Favorite Classical Pieces

[ChristianGirlForever]

Henry Gorecki's Symphony of Sorrowful Songs.

It's not "classical" in the sense that it's from the era of Handel and those guys, but it's still longhair music - not folk, pop, country, bluegrass, blues, or any of that lot. Gorecki' is actually considered a minimalist composer like Phillip Glass, Avro Part, and others. But you didn't define "classical" in your original post, so I'm interpreting the term broadly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPhrG82nV2c

Händel and "those guys" are actually from the Baroque Period, the one preceding the well-known Classical Period. I've never listened to Groeki, but I imagine he was quite modern. If he wasn't from the Impressionistic Period, then he might have been from the 20th Century "period."

I know very little about music history. I adore Classical music because I was raised solely on it, but I am very ignorant, I'm afraid. It made me laugh when you referred to Händel and his contemporaries as "those guys," so I wanted to respond. :) Edited January 21, 2015 by ChristianGirlForever

[Mary+Immaculate<3]

I like any piece of classical music that helps me study.

[Lil Red]

I took my kids to a live performance of Peter and the Wolf last weekend. I really love that piece. 

 

[ChristianGirlForever]

That's great, Lil Red! I love Peter and the Wolf. It brings me back to my childhood. You can find the Boris Karloff version in iTunes. I've never heard it live, but I'd like to. Classical music wasn't meant to be experienced through a device, but should be heard live.

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name="ChristianGirlForever"Classical music wasn't meant to be experienced through a device, but should be heard live.[/quote]

The fact that we can press a button and listen to the greatest music ever produced throughout history is probably one of the greatest achievements of our culture.
It may not be the same as attending a performance, but that is more than outweighed by the fact that anyone can access it at any time.

[ChristianGirlForever]

The fact that we can press a button and listen to the greatest music ever produced throughout history is probably one of the greatest achievements of our culture.
It may not be the same as attending a performance, but that is more than outweighed by the fact that anyone can access it at any time.

Yes, I know that, Nihil. I listen to music every day, something I wouldn't be able to do if I only went to the Symphony. Still, every time I go to a concert, I cannot listen to my recorded music for days. It just doesn't sound right, if you know what I mean.

[HopefulHeart]

It's a wintry day, so....

 

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZCfydWF48c[/media]

[ChristianGirlForever]

If you like Tchaikovsky, you might like his Winter composition. I like to listen to pieces in their entirety, but I hear his Christmas movement during the Season, and it is lovely. The whole piece is probably quite good, as well. :)

[PhuturePriest]

Yes, I know that, Nihil. I listen to music every day, something I wouldn't be able to do if I only went to the Symphony. Still, every time I go to a concert, I cannot listen to my recorded music for days. It just doesn't sound right, if you know what I mean.

 

Nope. I find it sounds either exactly the same, or worse, because it's not the best out of 20 attempts at the same song.

 

There is something to be said about physically attending a rock concert, however, as live performances are energetic and it's socially acceptable to jump up and down in uncomfortable proximity with 20,000+ random strangers.

[Not The Philosopher]

Nope. I find it sounds either exactly the same, or worse, because it's not the best out of 20 attempts at the same song.

 

There is something to be said about physically attending a rock concert, however, as live performances are energetic and it's socially acceptable to jump up and down in uncomfortable proximity with 20,000+ random strangers.

 

There's a line of argument that classical recordings and, to an extent, musicians are becoming increasingly same-y because technical proficiency is being preferred at the expense of interpretive insight and personality.
 

[PhuturePriest]

There's a line of argument that classical recordings and, to an extent, musicians are becoming increasingly same-y because technical proficiency is being preferred at the expense of interpretive insight and personality.
 

 

There seems to be a very weird shift in the music scene. Coming from the Rock perspective, in the glory days of rock ('70s and '80s) musicians didn't have to sound pitch perfect when they performed. In fact, the vocalists would very often sing off-key notes throughout their songs, because rock music at that time was about being entertaining onstage. It was considered preferable to run around and head bang at the expense of the vocals than to sit still and sing perfectly.

 

Now, however, in our auto-tuned music industry, bands of all types are much more stationary and barely move at all so they can sing and play without one mistake.

 

For instance, watch this for one simple minute:

 

http://youtu.be/g_enNmzWn6Y?t=34s

 

The frontman moves so much that he barely has any breath for the actual singing. It was not a good vocal performance by any stretch of the imagination. And yet despite the fact the frontman has sung this song astronomically better in many other cases, this is widely considered Guns N' Roses' greatest performance ever.

 

Now compare that with this:

 

http://youtu.be/e7nvRW85iPw?t=40s

 

They're barely moving. In the '80s, the band would be expected to go crazy with that sort of heavy beat and riff. But the culture expects every note to be perfect to an impossible degree, so they remain stationary as a consequence.

Edited January 31, 2015 by PhuturePriest

[Luigi]

There seems to be a very weird shift in the music scene. Coming from the Rock perspective, in the glory days of rock ('70s and '80s) musicians didn't have to sound pitch perfect when they performed. In fact, the vocalists would very often sing off-key notes throughout their songs, because rock music at that time was about being entertaining onstage. It was considered preferable to run around and head bang at the expense of the vocals than to sit still and sing perfectly.

 

Now, however, in our auto-tuned music industry, bands of all types are much more stationary and barely move at all so they can sing and play without one mistake.

 

For instance, watch this for one simple minute:

 

http://youtu.be/g_enNmzWn6Y?t=34s

 

The frontman moves so much that he barely has any breath for the actual singing. It was not a good vocal performance by any stretch of the imagination. And yet despite the fact the frontman has sung this song astronomically better in many other cases, this is widely considered Guns N' Roses' greatest performance ever.

 

Now compare that with this:

 

http://youtu.be/e7nvRW85iPw?t=40s

 

They're barely moving. In the '80s, the band would be expected to go crazy with that sort of heavy beat and riff. But the culture expects every note to be perfect to an impossible degree, so they remain stationary as a consequence.

 

Dude -  They CAN'T do all that running around any more. They're a lot older now than they used to be. 

[ChristianGirlForever]

Nope. I find it sounds either exactly the same, or worse, because it's not the best out of 20 attempts at the same song.

There is something to be said about physically attending a rock concert, however, as live performances are energetic and it's socially acceptable to jump up and down in uncomfortable proximity with 20,000+ random strangers.

LOL. I wasn't referring to rock concerts, Future Priest. I have no idea about that. Classical music sounds best when heard live, but many people haven't the ability to go to the concert once a week, so we are grateful for recorded music. :)

[ChristianGirlForever]

There's a line of argument that classical recordings and, to an extent, musicians are becoming increasingly same-y because technical proficiency is being preferred at the expense of interpretive insight and personality.

Hmm. Perhaps that's why it sometimes sounds almost canned. :-/

[PhuturePriest]

Dude -  They CAN'T do all that running around any more. They're a lot older now than they used to be. 

 

Axl Rose still runs around crazily at the expense of vocal performance. I'd show proof, but doing that would require listening to it, and let's just say his breathless singing is not what it used to be in terms of quality.

 

Also, you didn't even watch the videos, did you? The second video is of One Direction, not Guns N' Roses.